Autonomous
/ôˈtänəməs/ Building the capacity to self govern.
a MAH fellowship
informed, educated, and organized artists are a crucial component in how the public receives and responds to the work that comes out of social movements.
The Mutual Aid Hartford Autonomous Fellowship is a 10 month program exploring art as a movement-building practice. MAH will support radical artists with goals of becoming advocates, activists, and organizers in their communities to sharpen their frameworks and collaborative skills in service of a just, cooperative, and creative Hartford.
This Fellowship will serve as a ground-level developmental tool for artists who have made a clear investment in being pillars of their community in conjunction with producing impactful, thought-provoking creative experiences. Mutual Aid Hartford’s transformative fellowship for artists, organizers, and activists will equip our next generation of culture shifters and thought leaders with a more articulate set of tools needed to have the skills for the next chapters of their careers.
Award
Fellows receive a $10,000 stipend disbursed over the fellowship period with additional training, workshops, and support
commitment
Fellows will collaboratively produce content, experiences, and operational foundations for the mutual aid hartford network
Grounding
The principles of Black Feminism, Mutual Aid, Solidarity Economics, Grassroots Organizing, and Queer Liberation will guide fellows as we ask and attempt to answer how it is we can collectively get free.
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Andriana “Dri” Milner is a storyteller, event curator, and community organizer committed to creating spaces of love, liberation, and collective care. She believes in the transformative power of art and organizing to build sustainable, people-powered movements rooted in radical imagination. Dri is also a daughter, aunty, godmother, and sister. With a book or two in her bag and a pen in hand, she is always ready to write and inspire others to dream and create.
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Bizzie Ruth is a young multifaceted, black femme Visual Storyteller and Art Curator from Hartford, Connecticut. She began as a spoken word poet at 13 years old, performing at various open mics and protests. During high school she found her love for visual art in the forms of filmmaking, photography, and graphic design which she now utilizes to highlight the beauty of her community.
She is also the founder of an art curation brand called, THE PHOTOBOOTH NETWORK, where she focuses on creating spaces and opportunities for black and brown artists from underserved communities.
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Dom McLennon is a musician & interdisciplinary artist born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut. Dom’s creative career started in Connecticut and has led him across the world as a vocalist & producer with the BROCKHAMPTON group from 2014-2022. Following his run with the band, Dom has focused on expanding his artistic horizons while utilizing his creative expertise to support artist development back home through collaborative work & community engagements.
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Hartford native Thorne Malik. has spent the past decade refining skills in performance and the production of work with other passionate artists throughout CT and NY, into Communi(t)y Garden, a platform rooted in giving flowers. As Partnerships and Collaborations Fellow, Thorne is working with Mutual Aid Hartford to present workshops, events, and creative projects that foster creativity and mutual benefit in partnerships in the Hartford Area.